Tuesday, February 2, 2016

The Democrat Knife-Fight Heats Up

Iowa -- first of the real tests of the effectiveness of the Democrat candidates' campaigns. Result: effectively, a tie between Clinton and Sanders.

This should come as no surprise to anyone. Clinton's campaign machine is well-developed and well-heeled. Its influence stretches across the country and penetrates the media national, regional, and local. Sanders' campaign has been most impressive in the fact that he rose so quickly from relative obscurity to becoming a serious contender for the nomination. His methods bypassed the conventional and went directly to the heart of the universities, underprivileged neighborhoods, and most disgruntled portion of the Democrat machine. His socialist-leaning speeches appeal especially to the younger population, those who have been subjected to the leftist teachings in the universities and those who traditionally have considered Republicans to be the enemy of the poor and black populations.

What we have is a center-left candidate (Clinton) and a far left candidate (Sanders) vying to succeed from a center-to-far-left president. Election of either of these will do nothing to change the current political climate. It would signify, as has already been admitted by one, another term for the current administration. For those unhappy with this situation, that would be a strong argument to vote against either Democrat.

Clinton and Sanders are doing everything they can to accentuate the differences between their policies, but there really aren't that many.
What differences they have are too minor to notice. Both are for
single-payer health care. Clinton has maintained that it wouldn't
happen, but she was its most fervent supporter during her husband's
administration. Both support abortion and mandatory public education.
Both support higher taxation and expanded federal government influence
on state issues.

It's not going to make that much difference which one wins. They are, for all intents and purposes, copies of each other and Obama.

The Commentator

I have been writing speculative fiction for over 40 years, but only
recently have I been able to pursue it full-time. After retiring from
my position as an air traffic controller, I decided to devote myself to
my writing, not realizing I was trading one stressful career for
another. Nevertheless, through my short fiction and novels, at least I
have an outlet for my obsession with the written word.